Former champs Zvezda, Mega, Barcelona highlight ANGT Belgrade field

Which team will join Real Madrid at the ANGT Finals?

Former continental champions U18 Crvena Zvezda Belgrade, U18 FC Barcelona and U18 Mega MIS Belgrade are the three standout teams heading into the 2024 Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade, where the second ticket for the ANGT Finals will be handed out.

Eight teams will be fighting for the right to join the ANGT Podgorica winner and reigning ANGT champion U18 Real Madrid at the ANGT Finals, which will be played at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in May. The other five teams in the field are U18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan of Italy, the Israeli duo of U18 Hapoel Yehuda Tel Aviv and U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv, U18 Partizan Belgrade of Serbia and U18 Next Generation Team Belgrade.

The eight teams have been drawn into two groups of four and they will face the other clubs in their group in a round-robin format. Group A consists of Zvezda, Maccabi, Milan and NGB, while Barcelona, Mega, Partizan and Hapoel make up Group B.

Group A

Zvezda is once again hosting the qualifying tournament in Belgrade, which has been home to one of the qualifiers since 2008-09. Zvezda is playing in the competition for the 17th straight season, as it first appeared in the ANGT Belgrade in 2007-08. The Serbian side claimed the ANGT title in 2014 and finished as runner-up in 2015 and 2016. Zvezda finished first in the ANGT Belgrade for eight consecutive seasons – from 2011 to 2018 – but has not won it since then. The club lost in the first-place game to Mega in 2018-19, 2020-21 and 2022-23 and came up short to U18 ASVEL Villeurbanne in 2021-22. Last season, Zvezda came back from 13 points down before losing to Mega in overtime.

Maccabi is on board for the sixth straight ANGT Belgrade and 17th overall. The Israeli powerhouse finished fifth at the ANGT Zadar last season with a 2-2 record. Maccabi lost in the first-place game in 2021-22 to U18 Stellazzurra Rome at the ANGT Patras and against U18 Real Madrid at the ANGT Munich in 2018-19. Milan will be participating for a sixth time, as it is in its second run of three straight appearances. The Italian club took seventh place at the ANGT Munich last season with a 1-3 record. The NGB select team will be coached by Petteri Koponen.

Group B

Group B promises a great showdown between Mega and Barcelona, which is the final game of the group stage. The 2022 ANGT champion Mega is in the competition for the 13th straight season, having debuted in 2011-12, and has reached the last seven ANGT Finals, finishing as the continental runner-up in 2017 and 2019. Coming in as reigning champion from last season, Mega took first place at ANGT Belgrade after beating Zvezda 80-79 in overtime. At the ANGT Finals last season, Mega finished 2-1 in its group following a loss to the U18 Next Generation Select team in group play.

In addition to winning the European crown in 2016, Barcelona has lost in the ANGT Championship Game three times (2008, 2013 and 2021). The Spanish giant is competing for the 19th time overall and 17th in a row. Barcelona went undefeated and took first place at the ANGT Zadar last season and then had a 2-1 record in the group at the ANGT Finals, losing to Real Madrid. Partizan picked up just one victory at last season’s ANGT Belgrade in taking seventh place. The club finished first at the ANGT Belgrade in 2019-20. Hapoel, meanwhile, will be making its debut in the competition.